Interview: Kevin Craig

Novelist, poet and playwright Kevin Craig, long known as KTC on Absolute Write, set some time aside for an interview, just days after release of his sixth novel, Pride Must Be A Place.

Did you have a playlist for Pride Must Be a Place?

Absolutely, I did. I wrote over half of Pride at the 72hr Muskoka Novel Marathon. That’s where 40 writers get together and attempt to write 40 novels in 72hrs. We each collect sponsorship money for the marathon. We raise about $30,000.00 for area literacy programs. Anyway, the playlist for Pride Must Be A Place was made up of seven songs. For the greater part of the 72 hours “Rise Up” by The Parachute Club played on a loop. On the way to the marathon weekend, I talked to Parachute Club’s lead singer Lorraine Segato on the phone. I had sent her an email asking her about permissions and a couple of other things regarding the song and a story tie-in to the band. We batted a few ideas back and forth and I feel as though she helped with the eventual direction of the story. The “Rise Up” song was fuel for the story all the way through the writing of it. Other songs in the playlist were Divine’s “Native Love,” Bronski Beat’s “Small Town Boy,” Dead or Alive’s “Misty Circles” and “I’d Do Anything,” and The Cure’s “In Betweeen Days” and 10:15 “Saturday Night.”

Were there any surprises for you as you wrote Pride Must Be a Place? Character developments or plot twists that you didn’t expect?

There were definitely surprises. The biggest was one of the main character’s arc. Alex Mills was a close friend in a trio of friends that included Ezra Caine, the narrator, and Nettie English. I had envisioned Alex being a totally different character than the one he turned out being. Without giving too much away, he makes some terrible choices along the way and his entire arc changed. He in fact changed the trajectory of the story. What Ezra learns through his interactions with Alex is when someone shows their true character over and over again, there comes a point when you have to believe them.

In 2014 you made the pilgrimage to Camino de Santiago. What can you tell us about that?

My Camino pilgrimage was an absolute life-changer (I’m going back in 2019). I had just completed three years of intensive therapy for childhood sexual abuse trauma. I saw my pilgrimage as a way of shedding the last of my old skin. I made the pilgrimage in a group with seven other peregrinos. The guide, Sue Kenney, was already a friend through my novel marathons. She takes groups twice a year and I always wanted to do it. I was starting my entire life over at the time. I was in a new relationship and I was newly out. The Camino was a way to complete my healing journey. Every step I took was away from negativity and all the old components of myself that I wanted to leave behind. My idea was to walk into Santiago de Compostela a new person . . . a more authentic self. And I believe I accomplished my goal, for the most part. They say the Camino calls to you and that it never stops calling until to you listen and make the journey. That’s what I did. For me, my pilgrimage was the culmination of my healing journey. I just recently wrote a young adult novel set on the Camino. My agent currently has it out on submission. It is close to my heart because the Camino is close to my heart.

What’s your writing process like?
I try to complete my first draft at the yearly Muskoka Novel Marathon. 72 hours with little sleep and lots of coffee. I always write by the seat of my pants. I choose a title first, and when they ring the starter bells at the marathon every July I leap from that title and see where it takes me. No outlines, no preconceived notions. If I don’t finish the first draft in that 72 hour sitting, which was the case with Pride Must Be A Place, my partner helps to motivate me in the following weeks by ordering, say, two chapters by 3pm. I write the chapters, send them to my Kindle and wait for the next request. The whole time I’m writing chapters, he’s editing the ones I send to my Kindle. It’s a process that works incredibly well. He keeps me in the mindset I had at the marathon and I continue the momentum until the first draft is completed. Usually a week or so after the marathon’s completion.

What’s your writing environment like (your work area and tools of choice)?
I don’t have a work area. I write wherever I am. I feel like I’m talking about the marathon a lot, but since most of the first draft is completed there it comes into a lot of my answers. It’s a chaotic weekend, with 40 writers in such a confined living space. I have a desk there and set up for comfort, mostly. But outside the marathon, I’ll write on the couch, on the floor, in a coffee shop, at the library, in bed . . . wherever. I like when my partner takes me to his sister’s cottage for a weekend with the express purpose of giving me writing time and space. When I write there, I’m usually on the back porch with a full view of the lake. It’s heaven.

Any particular favorite Canadian writers?
Canadian writers? I don’t usually think in forms of countries when it comes to writers, but I do definitely have favourite Canadians. Because he is also a dear friend, first and foremost Wayson Choy. He’s the loveliest person in the world. He has a way of making everyone feel special and loved. And his writing is absolutely beautiful. I loved his Not Yetand The Jade Peony the most. Leonard Cohen’s novels The Favourite Game and Beautiful Losers are experimental in style and gorgeous and lush. I’ve also always loved his poetry and song. Mordecai Richler and Miriam Toews would round out my favourite Canadian writers.

What have you read lately (in the last year or so) that you really liked?

Do you have any particular favorite books about writing?
My favourite has to be The Summing Up by W. Somerset Maugham. It’s about writing, but it’s also about life. I like the way Maugham peppers golden nuggets of writerly wisdom into a narrative of his life, much in the way Stephen King did with On Writing. Maugham is a hero to me because he was a playwright and a novelist. I also do both. The Summing Up gave me so much. I continue to reread it years later.

Is there a question that you’ve never been asked that you’d really like to answer?

Wow! This one kind of stops one in one’s tracks. I’m certain there is one, but my mind is a blank at the moment. I’ve been outside my comfort zone almost non-stop for the past eight years or so. I feel like all those questions have been asked and answered.

What’s your favorite charity?
My favourite charity? I’d have to go with two. The YMCA Literacy Services of Muskoka/Simcoe County, which is the organization that receives all the Muskoka Novel Marathon funds every year. The 519 — which is a community centre in the heart of Toronto’s gay village. They have phenomenal supports and programs for the LGBTQ community here.